Small update - ordered some new brake pads front and rear and brake discs front and rear from Autodoc, just over £300 for all which I thought was very good! All for MOT which is due on the 28th, the rear discs were an advisory for being rusty last year.

 

I went with TRW pads (which I think are OEM) and ATE coated discs. These have a matt silver finish which is corrosion resistant and from what I can see is better than painted equivalents. Although I thought about a black finish I'm sure it'll look naff in no time. The pads are all black with a patterned rubber coating on the back, presumably to stop any squealing or vibrating noises.

 

Unfortunately I bought a Triplesquare set for the rear as the caliper carrier has to be removed but the bits were too long to undo the top bolt, doh! I did pull all the slider bolts out, clean and regrease which showed that a few needed replacement with rubber bushes breaking and pitting from corrosion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I then fitted the fronts, which was an easy process overall. I undid the brake fluid reservoir and used a caliper tool to push the piston back in.

 

 

On the drive home, I broke gently for the first 4-5 times then built up to 60-40mph and 70-30mph braking to bed the pads in. They feel sharper than they did before and overly happy with how they feel.

 

The car is also going on for an Inspection 2 and brake fluid change when it has its MOT. Hopefully they don't fail it on the rear discs.

 

Bottom ball joints are still on the list, but I have insurance soon and thinking I'm going to be stung more so than other years.

Finally fitted the rears! Undoing the Triplesquare bolts holding the caliper bracket on was not going to happen without removing the shock absorber, which was easy enough to remove and allowed a decent breaker bar or similar to then fit under the arch and be used without spatial issues. 

 

It was very easy to replace them both and all fitted very well.

 

I did discover that the dust protector on both sides was trying to masquerade as a collander! I also found out that my shock absorbers are totally knackered, barely returning so they may have to be done sooner rather than later. 

 

I should add that the car passed its MOT with no issues, and they changed the brake fluid at the same time. They made no mention of anything being problematic from the service either.

 

I have a few things I want to add onto the existing list:

 

-Leon Cupra DSG gearknob to replace the flaky chrome one.

-Rear brake dust protectors.

-Kufatec LED adaptors and stock VAG LED interior light units.

-DSG inline thermostat.

-Facelift rear lights and adaptors.

 

Replace Topmount bolt - Done

Brake fluid change - Done

Front ball joints on both sides.

Shorter bolts for rear ARB droplinks.

Replacement rear ARB droplinks.

Replacement B4 rear shocks.

MK7 GTi rear ARB.

 

I do feel like I never get to the bottom of the list! Anyone else feeling like cars hitting 100k are just money pits? 😏

 

 

Edited 14 April, 20242 yr by Dooge

So, a friend offered me his alloys, recently refurbished and with 4 brand new Michelin PS4's for £800... I said yes. 

 

Genuine Golf Pretoria's. I bought some ST-DZX 12mm hubcentric spacers for the rear and I really like the look. Many thanks to @vrs'burks for the recommendation!

 

The car feels a bit more sprightly on them, I guess because of the new tyres and because they are a bit lighter than the Extremes. I do also know that they are a bit more fragile than stock however most of the roads I drive are reasonably good.

 

Edited 7 June, 20241 yr by Dooge

I also ordered new genuine rear brake disc guards, yet to fit them as I am debating whether to get new rear hub bearings.

 

 

10 hours ago, Dooge said:

The car feels a bit more sprightly on them, I guess because of the new tyres and because they are a bit lighter than the Extremes.

That'll be it!

19 minutes ago, Paws4Thot said:

That'll be it!

Definitely, the new tyres help but it'll be far more about the weight. 

 

On one of my previous cars, the Clio 197, I changed the stock alloys for 200 Cup alloys which saved 1kg a corner and you could definitely tell the difference.

 

I've always been a big believer in reducing unsprung mass but I could never justify spending lots to get lightweight alloys for what is essentially a daily commuter. These are a good in between option I reckon, bit lighter than stock, bit wider and sit better in the arches due to that width.

 

 

Another small bit satisfying update. I managed to fit the rear disc guards today. I went through the same procedure for removing the caliper, carrier and disc before but could believe how much the old guards had rusted to the hub. Alot of wire brushing and scraping and they fitted well again. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon I'll pick up some Bilstein B4 rear shocks and an uprated rear ARB which should firm up the rear end.

So, the saying every day is a school day is correct! Today I learnt that using the DA polisher on your interior trim results in ruining it 😬 I also ruined both my polisher pads so an expensive mistake 🫤

 

Once I realised it wasn't going to be saved I ordered a second hand one from eBay for £35 and carried on polishing it until it was all gone. It's like a very dark grey in comparison to the Piano black highlights, but shiny. 

 

On 24/06/2024 at 23:54, Dooge said:

 

Soon I'll pick up some Bilstein B4 rear shocks and an uprated rear ARB which should firm up the rear end.

I assume you are aware that the uprated rear ARB will reduce understeer and may even induce slight oversteer. 

Just now, Warrior193 said:

I assume you are aware that the uprated rear ARB will reduce understeer and may even induce slight oversteer. 

Yes buddy, hoping to sharpen up the rear end. I'm debating whether to go for the Performance Pack ARB (21.7 x 3mm) or the Club sport one (21.7 x 3.6mm) but lots have done the Club sport RARB resulting in subtly improved handling. I'm not going aftermarket or overly thick so I think I'd have to try pretty hard to upset the car, I don't drive it near that limit.

So, I finally got around to tackling the rear suspension.

 

Fitted:

-Second hand Club sport bar (bought from eBay for £120 with rubbers, collars and droplinks)

-Bilstein B4 rear shocks

 

 

I have access to a pit so I started by removing all the M10 torx bolts on the collars, then the droplink bolts and managed to get the old one out without jacking it up. Could I get the new one in? Nope! 

 

Pulled it out of the garage, jacked both sides quite high, dropped the wheels and shock absorbers off, then undid the mounts for the rear exhaust rubbers and the one behind the rear axle so the new ARB could be fitted.

 

If anyone wants the Clubs sport ARB code its 5Q0 511 305 BA. 

 

Once the new ARB was on (new collar bolts were £17 for 4 from Skoda dealer) changed over dust covers, bumpstops and topmounts onto the new shocks and fitted.

Then made sure everything was tight and secure.

 

I had a test drive back but a boot full of rattly items didnt help concentrate on the drive so Ill go for another drive soon. Definitely felt sharper and not so wallowy, overall Im pleased! More photos incoming soon.

The new ARB is lighter than the original and its obviously cheaper for the VAG group to fit a solid bar to the VRS rather than a hollow bar. If they did it for any other reason Id find this strange as theres not really a direct competitor in the VAG range to the VRS. The MK7 Golf R/Leon Cupra will handle completely differently due to being AWD and is also smaller. Anything Audi will be priced above and has a different suspension setup.

 

Reflecting on the drive back, it certainly has made the car more neutral and balanced. Before it was dragging its backside around the corners feeling like it was being pulled from the front, now it doesnt feel so much that. 

 

New ARB collar bolts, the old ones were pretty crusty and although came out OK I wouldnt want to use them again. 

 

 

Most of the underside is pretty crusty and at some point Ill need to start thinking about various arms, bushes and the subframes itself.

 

Until that day, on with the mods! Next on the list is an APR billet steel dogbone insert and when I have a good day to do it a full machine polish. 

So, I had started considering other cars. The VRS was great, handled very well and wasnt slow but I'm nearing 40 and the prospect of either paying for rear subframe work or doing it myself was niggling. To top it off, I found a few small bubbles of what would soon be rust that hadn't broken out, which I knew would need addressing to stop them being a future problem.

 

Likewise, priorities have changed since I first bought the car, with a toddler, dog, house to run and busy full time job I just find myself not interested as much in the car as a 'project'. Could I leave it as it is? Certainly, but before the value falls out of it I decided to move it on.

 

It went to Alpine Cars who offered a very tidy £8k for it minus some of its modifications, this was over £1k more than trade and £900 more than somewhere like Carwow, who'd probably only knock me down to less. It'll have some work done I'd imagine and be back out for someone else to enjoy.

 

I gave it a last clean yesterday before it was collected today, it still looks great and comes up spanking! The new car was waiting in the background however...

 

So what did I buy? 

 

As a list of priorities I considered:

 

-Space, either a decent hatch or estate

-Nice interior with Android Auto and other toys

-Minimum 250bhp petrol 

-Handle reasonably well in stock form

-Reasonable costs to run and service

-Low mileage (40k max)

-Budget around £20k

 

I considered all sorts, on my list was:

 

BMW 330i F series estates

Audi A4 Avants

Jaguar XE R-Sport P250

Mercedes C300 estate

Mercedes C43 AMG estate

 

The car had to be either a hatch or estate, so the Jaguar was out unfortunately. It had to be interesting and relatively rare (to me) so that was the Audi out. I wanted low mileage (under 40k is possible) so the BMW was out as I couldnt find anything near this and the G series was just too pricey. It had to handle well too, which removed the C300 from the equation. Every review said it goes well in a straight line but not around corners. The C43 was left, but finding a non modified, low mileage example in estate format for under £20k was impossible. 

 

Back to the drawing board. 

 

I was browsing Autotrader and saw it! After some maths and reading reviews, I knew I'd found my next car...

 

Late 2018 Skoda Superb Sportline. Moon White metallic, 272bhp, AWD Haldex based system, heated front seats, sunroof and DCC suspension. It came from a Skoda dealer and was up for £22k. After some conversation they gave it a full service, Haldex service and some new centre caps.

 

@Dooge great choice and great spec, you will enjoy it. I have basically the same except mines a wagon in business grey. Mine didn't have DCC, I've had Bilstein B12, Eibach springs, h&r rear ARB fitted they transformed how the car felt with it's wallowy feel.

Great choice though as a family car and most people haven't a clue what it is. Enjoy. 

Edited 14 September, 20241 yr by Bobodaclown

On 14/09/2024 at 13:17, Bobodaclown said:

@Dooge great choice and great spec, you will enjoy it. I have basically the same except mines a wagon in business grey. Mine didn't have DCC, I've had Bilstein B12, Eibach springs, h&r rear ARB fitted they transformed how the car felt with it's wallowy feel.

Great choice though as a family car and most people haven't a clue what it is. Enjoy. 

 

Thanks! The DCC is fab, I cant imagine using 'comfort' much as 'normal' is pretty soft, but 'sport' is pretty controlled. I havent driven it in anger yet but after upgrading the rear anti roll bar in my VRS and it making a significant difference I'd be tempted if there was an OEM upgrade. I am guessing a Golf R bar is probably an upgrade?

On 13/09/2024 at 16:08, Dooge said:

So what did I buy? 

 

As a list of priorities I considered:

 

-Space, either a decent hatch or estate

-Nice interior with Android Auto and other toys

-Minimum 250bhp petrol 

-Handle reasonably well in stock form

-Reasonable costs to run and service

-Low mileage (40k max)

-Budget around £20k

 

I considered all sorts, on my list was:

 

BMW 330i F series estates

Audi A4 Avants

Jaguar XE R-Sport P250

Mercedes C300 estate

Mercedes C43 AMG estate

 

The car had to be either a hatch or estate, so the Jaguar was out unfortunately. It had to be interesting and relatively rare (to me) so that was the Audi out. I wanted low mileage (under 40k is possible) so the BMW was out as I couldnt find anything near this and the G series was just too pricey. It had to handle well too, which removed the C300 from the equation. Every review said it goes well in a straight line but not around corners. The C43 was left, but finding a non modified, low mileage example in estate format for under £20k was impossible. 

 

Back to the drawing board. 

 

I was browsing Autotrader and saw it! After some maths and reading reviews, I knew I'd found my next car...

 

Late 2018 Skoda Superb Sportline. Moon White metallic, 272bhp, AWD Haldex based system, heated front seats, sunroof and DCC suspension. It came from a Skoda dealer and was up for £22k. After some conversation they gave it a full service, Haldex service and some new centre caps.

 

😍 lovely